According to an expert in social media and the pressures on working mothers, millennial moms are likelier to filter advertising and social media than mothers from other generational groups. The pressures working mothers place on themselves is tied to increased stress levels, especially when faced with images of mothers who appear to be managing work and home pressures seamlessly on social media sites and ad pages.
According to Christine Wilson, founder of MtoM Consulting, millennial mothers appear to be better prepared to ignore what eMarketer described as “unauthentic noise.”
eMarketer asked Ms. Wilson what social channels resonate most strongly with millennial mothers and she mentioned the rapid growth of Instagram in this demographic within social media. At first, there was talk that millennial moms were leaving Facebook because their mothers were also on Facebook; however, according to Ms. Wilson, this may not be the case. In fact, she told eMarketer that “Eighty percent of our respondents answered that they use Facebook ‘many times a day,’ whereas Instagram was the second highest, at only 20 percent for many times a day.”
Although much Facebook use involves habit, millennial moms have a lot of friends on the site, which means a lot of connections. What’s more, new moms are known to be involved in information sharing concerning children and with more than just friends; for instance, “parents, aunts, uncles—people who might not be on Instagram,” Ms. Wilson told eMarketer.
eMarketer asked Ms. Wilson about smartphones that are always on and social media adding to millennial mom stress. Ms. Wilson explained that, when MtoM Consulting spoke with millennial moms, the moms often indicated that they do not feel great pressure to do everything because they are always connected and that this digital connection provides an improved tool for problem solving. This, Ms. Wilson told eMarketer, enables millennium moms to use digital as a way in which to improve what they are doing; for instance checking emails while at the park with their children. In this way, they are watching their children and able to share information. Ms. Wilson also noted that Amazon and Amazon Prime have improved the notion of instantaneous gratification. For example, a mom is able to order toilet paper or other supplies online with a few keyboard strokes, confident that those supplies will arrive within a day or two. Gone are the days of routinely having to pack children in the car to buy necessary home supplies that were not purchased on a prior shopping run or that ran out unexpectedly.
Millennial moms also seem to be better able to weed out the competitive social media over sharing and are more receptive to mobile advertising. “Millennials are pretty aware of what the noise is all about, and they are quick to filter out the things they find to be unauthentic. They filter out the noise, and they focus on the brands that they feel understand them and that relate to them. They also are looking for brands that are talking to them,” Ms. Wilson told eMarketer.
“If the ads convey something that is going to make life simpler or less stressful, then it will become something they’re interested in hearing about,” Ms. Wilson added, noting that moms, in general, are always seeking brands that will simplify their lives. Ads that express that simplicity or ease to daily stress will be noticed.
Today’s mothers seek a balance with being a mom and “fashion, recipes, news, technology,” as well as business, noted Ms. Wilson. “There becomes a point at which being a mom becomes a little bit more of a piece of what you’re doing in your life, especially as you’re having your second child and so on,” Ms. Wilson told eMarketer. With social media, moms are able to create a personal community with like-minded moms; their digital world is becoming more about who they are and what they are looking to do, such as dining choices and family vacation destinations.
Source:
eMarketer; Millennial Mothers More Apt Than Other Mothers to Filter Out Advertising, Social Media Noise; Nov 7, 2014.
